Perspectives fulfilled: the work and thought of J. V. Neel (1915-2000)

James V. Neel was one of the leaders who developed human genetics into a predominant field of 20th-century science. Neel was originally trained in basic biology, and this fact was clearly reflected in the evolutionary, population perspective of his life's work. His interests were in the amount and burden of mutation in human populations. He studied this problem in clinical samples, survivors of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and minimally acculturated indigenous populations in Amazonia. Because his perspective was populational, he cautioned that the most serious health problems faced by our species should not be approached as if they have a genetic solution.